Possibly old news to you, but the Victoria & Albert Museum’s Fashion department has recently-ish revamped their website and added a lot of interesting content — mostly articles, some videos. You can get to the main hub here, but here are some specific items of interest:
- Underwear: From Corsets to Bullet Bras and Back (video)
- Introduction to the Fashion Gallery (video)
- Corsets & Crinolines in Victorian Fashions
- Crinolines, Crinolettes, Bustles and Corsets from 1860-1880
- Behind the Scenes: Conservation of a Victorian Wedding Dress
- Corsets and Bustles from 1880-90: the Move from Over Structured Opulence to the ‘Healthy Corset’
- Men’s Court Dress: Russia 1720s-1917
- A History of Pockets
- Embroidery Pattern Books, 1523-1700
- Introduction to English Embroidery
- Designs for Embroidered Fashion: Lady Middleton’s Pattern
- Conservation of the May Primrose Dress (1885)
- Conservation of James II’s Wedding Suit
Finally, I noticed that they’ve started the V&A Online Journal — so far, there’s three issues. The most recent one has a very interesting article for those of us who like to geek out scholarly-style: “An Adorned Print: Print Culture, Female Leisure and the Dissemination of Fashion in France and England, around 1660-1779.”
Thank you for bringing this to my attention!